Israel deciding to occupy all of Gaza “would be a huge mistake,” says British ambassador to Israel Simon Walters.
Responding to reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet is expected to approve a plan for the full occupation of the Gaza Strip this evening, Walters tells Israeli reporters, “That would be a huge mistake.”
“The IDF has done all that it can do in Gaza — it’s not going to achieve any more by fighting any longer,” he continues.
“Extending the war any further will simply lead to more deaths — deaths of soldiers, deaths of Palestinians, and, likely, deaths of hostages,” Walters says.
He adds that if Israel wants to defeat Hamas, “it can’t do that only militarily, it requires politics and diplomacy, and giving Gazans an alternative [authority] to Hamas” in postwar Gaza.
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